


A Way With Words

by ByTheAngell (SomeLittleInfamy)



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Bane Chronicles - Sarah Rees Brennan & Cassandra Clare & Maureen Johnson, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-06-17 16:42:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15465681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomeLittleInfamy/pseuds/ByTheAngell
Summary: Alec usually finds it cute when Magnus talks in his sleep. It becomes significantly less cute when the words turn out to be Chthonic, and he ends up summoning a demon into their bedroom in the middle of the night.





	A Way With Words

**Author's Note:**

> While I wrote this with the show verse in mind (pretending What To Buy The Shadowhunter Who Has Everything happened in this timeline), this drabble itself certainly fits easily into either the book- or show-verse! Based on some tumblr headcanon musings from yesterday about Magnus talking in his sleep. Enjoy! <3

It’s the heat that wakes Alec up, the increasingly uncomfortable warmth from more than just one-too-many blankets, bringing him to consciousness slowly, pillow becoming damp with sweat. It takes him a moment to register the unexpected light shifting beyond his closed eyelids, and the panic only really sets in several seconds after he opens his eyes and sees the flames around the bed.

A fire. His first thought is the practical one - did they leave a candle burning that caught on something? It isn’t impossible to imagine, though he’s usually careful to blow them all out no matter how tired he might be. The shadowhunter bolts upright in bed, and that’s when he realizes it isn’t a natural fire - the flames form a perfect circle around the bed, controlled and confined to the outline.

And that’s when he hears it - Magnus, still fast asleep beside him, talking in his sleep. His lips move quickly, speaking tried and true words from somewhere deep within his subconscious. Alec strains to make out the words, but while he doesn’t recognize many of them specifically he can tell what language they are - Chthonic. Magnus is muttering one of the demon dialects under his breath.

Maybe later, looking back on this, Alec will find it amusing. Right now, however, it’s all he can do to keep calm. His instinct is to try and wake Magnus, but he isn’t sure what will happen if he interrupts whatever is going on right now. He is, quite literally, playing with fire. So he waits, tensed, sitting in bed in nothing but a pair of black boxer briefs, waiting. 

One minute passes, and then two, and Magnus’ lips never stop moving. The flames flare up higher and Alec tenses, about to just say ‘fuck it’ and wake Magnus anyway, when suddenly the murmuring stops. The flames dim. The tension in Alec’s shoulders relaxes in relief and he looks like he’s about to turn back around to wake Magnus when a voice sounds from the foot of the bed.

“You have _got_ to be kidding me.” The words are muffled, as if spoken underwater.  Alec’s hands fumble for the switch of the lamp on the side table, turning the light on to illuminate a shapeless, slimy blob with short tentacles. Dark green and black slime cover every inch of it, already staining the floor where it stood as it dripped.

A cecaelia demon.

“Don’t move an inch,” Alec warns, long legs swinging over the side of the bed as his right hand reaches underneath, feeling for the small blade he keeps there. He only pauses when he feels Magnus stir. Between the lingering heat from the fire, the light from the lamp, the movement of Alec beside him, and the voices, Magnus is finally awake.

“...Elyaas?” Magnus’ voice is heavy with sleep, words coming slow in his confusion over the sight before him. “What are you doing here?”

“You summoned me!” “...you summoned it.” Alec’s slightly more hesitant voice overlapped the demon’s accusatory one, the excessive slime impeding its speech slightly.

Magnus looks over at Alec, standing in his underwear, a knife in his hand, eyebrows pinching together over the bridge of his nose  in a silent question.

“You were talking in your sleep again.” Alec says, heartbeat slowing a bit. Despite the fact that there is, in fact, a demon in their bedroom, it did not seem to be an immediate threat somehow. His grip on the blade remains, however.  
  
“Alexander, I told you, I do _not_ talk in my sleep.” Magnus immediately jumps to the defensive, sitting up straighter in bed, the covers sliding off his bare chest.

“Well, _I_ certainly didn’t summon a demon into the Loft,” Alec says pointedly.

“And I _definitely_ didn’t come here again of my own accord. After that last time--” the demon begins, when his eyes catch on the candles by the bed.  “Are those scented candles I see? You took my advice!” He turns from Magnus to Alec. “Did he make you a mixed tape, too?” And then right back to Magnus.  “I _told you_ he would like the candles. That is, assuming the is the same Shadowhunter boyfriend and not some new one--”

“Alright, yes, points proven, that’s enough of that now. Time to go.” Magnus cuts Elyaas off quickly, a slight tinge of pink to his cheeks as if he is embarrassed by whatever the demon was about to say before he could even say it. A few rushed words of Chthonic later and the demon is gone, the only proof of his existence being the green and black sludge left behind where he stood.

“What was that about candles and a mixed tape?” Alec asks, sliding the knife back under the bed before sitting down on the edge of the mattress. He’s too amped up to fall back asleep any time soon.

“What? Oh, I don’t know. Just rambling, I’m sure, you know how demons are.” He tries too hard to sound careless and aloof, changing the subject quickly. “Are you alright?” His tone becomes more grave almost immediately, the severity of what just happened finally hitting him.

“I’m fine,” Alec reassures him, reaching over to grab his boyfriend’s hand and give it a slight squeeze. “I don’t think -- Elyaas, was it? -- was much of an actual threat.” He tries to laugh but there’s a distinct edge of uneasiness to it that doesn’t go unnoticed.  

“But any other demon might have killed us both in our sleep.” Magnus voices the unspoken concern they both share.

“I thought you had wards up for that?” Alec asks, curiously.

“I do - to stop _other people_ from conjuring demons into my home. I don’t exactly have anything in place to stop my own magic from working  within the walls of my own home... I suppose it’s time for some modifications.” He sighs, the heavy breath drawing out into a yawn.

“It can wait until morning,” Alec reassures him, a slight smirk playing at the corners of his lips. “I’ll be up anyway, so I’ll stay on sleep-summoning patrol while you get some rest.”

Magnus looks like he wants to argue for a moment before another yawn overtakes any potential words the moment he opens his mouth to protest. Intentional or not, a demon summoning takes a significant amount of effort, and he’s exhausted.

“Thank you. I’ll make it up to you in the morning, I promise.”

“Only if  it involves a mixed tape,” Alec says, giving in to the smirk fully now. “Unless those are reserved for your other Shadowhunter boyfriends? You never did clear that up.”

Magnus groans. “You’re not just going to forget about that, are you?”

“Not unless you want me to summon Elyaas back here to explain it himself.” Alec offers with a shrug.

Magnus’ eyes widen. “You wouldn’t!”

“Goodnight, Magnus.” Is all Alec says before switching off the light and crossing over to the other side of the bed, placing a soft kiss to Magnus’ forehead. He can feel the muscles on either side of his lips  pull up slightly as Magnus smiles.

“Goodnight, Alexander.”

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [Tumblr](http://bytheangell.tumblr.com)!


End file.
